The series known as Death Note has a lot of compelling characters with one of the greatest being Ryuk. He was very entertaining whenever he was shown and always gave fans a good laugh. Though he is not incredibly smart like Light, L, Near, and Mello, and rarely drives the plot forward, he was very important. Without him, nothing that happened in the story would have as he is the one that dropped the notebook Light found.
Despite gaining a lot of fans, there are many things that people have forgotten about the Shinigami. Here are 10 things that Death Note fans should know about the most iconic Shinigami.
10 Design
In Death Note 13: How To Read, Takeshi Obata, the artist of the series, said that Ryuk was very hard to draw when he first came up with the design he currently has. Originally, the Shinigami looked like "attractive rock stars", with Ryuk having a similar appearance to Light.
However, this idea was scrapped in order to avoid confusion of whether he or Light was the main character. Obata began drawing Ryuk the way fans know him as but it took him a long time to get used to the newer design.
9 Boredom
The reason behind all of Ryuk's actions is that he was bored of the Shinigami Realm. He figured that it would be entertaining to see what a human would do if they got their hands on a murderous notebook so he dropped it once he got his hands on a second one.
Ryuk got exactly what he wanted and was entertained for years.
8 Wrote The Rules
In order to increase someone's interest in the notebook and know how to use it, Ryuk wrote everything he thought the new owner would need to know. Most notebooks do not have the rules in them nor the words "Death Note" on the cover.
Ryuk wrote everything in English since it is the most popular language. If he had not taken the extra time to do this, Light may have quickly lost his interest in the book.
7 Fear Of Light
Despite being around Light for years, there were many times that the human scared Ryuk. Light would yell at him and get annoyed if Ryuk did anything he did not like. Most humans would be scared of the Shinigami and have a reaction similar to L's when he first found out that they exist.
Light and Ryuk's relationship shows how frightening humanity can be.
6 He Cannot Die
There is only one way to kill a Shinigami. They need to save a human that they fall in love with from dying. Due to how rare this is, most Shinigami do not even know that is possible to die this way. As Ryuk would never love a human, it is impossible for him to die. Guns, bombs, and other weapons that were used in the series have never even hurt the Shinigami.
Writing his name into one of the notebooks would not kill him either. As long as Ryuk continues to be the way he is, he will be immortal.
5 Apples
Besides being entertained, Ryuk's favorite thing in the world is apples. Though he doesn't need to eat any in order to live, he is addicted to the fruit. Light constantly gives him apples to show his appreciation for having the notebook. Ryuk enjoys how juicy the apples on Earth are since apples from the Shinigami Realm taste like sand.
Though it is commonly believed that the fruit is a religious reference, Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the manga, revealed that he simply liked having Ryuk hold them and thought they fit with his appearance.
4 Nintendo Fan
Fans may be shocked to know that Ryuk is a huge Nintendo fan. Besides Matt, he is probably the second biggest gamer in the series with Mario Golf being one of the Shinigami's favorite games.
He asked Light to play it with him when the two of them got home the day that Light discovered cameras in his room. Ryuk would not be able to play video games for a while but that didn't stop him from asking to get a Game Boy Advance SP for Christmas.
3 Pilot
Ryuk was introduced to the world before Light, L, and the rest of the main characters were. In the pilot, two boys, Taro and Miura, obtain their own notebooks from Ryuk. Rather than being smart like Light and trying to keep their powers a secret, they use the notebooks against people that they know. However, their victims come back to life by erasing their names, which was never shown in the main series.
Though Taro and Miura would end up forgotten, Ryuk met a more worthy human who entertained him much longer.
2 His Involvement In The Investigation
Despite wanting to be an observer in the battle between Kira and L, Ryuk did get involved at times. He let Light know that Raye Penber was following him, which helped Light out a lot. He also got involved when Sidoh returned to get his notebook back, telling the other Shinigami to let the task force kill Mello.
Though he only got involved when he wanted to or was pressured, Ryuk usually got what he wanted and had a front row seat in the most amusing show he had ever seen.
1 He Killed Light
The last time Ryuk got involved in the other characters' lives in the main series was when he finally wrote Light's name into his notebook. Ryuk told Light from the day that they met that he would be the one to kill him.
After Near defeated Light, Ryuk decided that it was time for the game to end, not wanting Light to be captured and imprisoned. Ryuk returned to the Shinigami Realm, satisfied with how the game he began ended.